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Report: 'Crucial missteps' delayed Sandusky probe

USA Today Network
John Bacon, USA TODAY
3:13 p.m. EDT June 23, 2014

BELLEFONTE, PA - OCTOBER 09: Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky leaves the Centre County Courthouse after being sentenced in his child sex abuse case on October 9, 2012 in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. The 68-year-old Sandusky was sentenced to at least 30 years and not more that 60 years in prison for his conviction in June on 45 counts of child sexual abuse, including while he was the defensive coordinator for the Penn State college football team.(Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Harrisburg, PA (USA TODAY) -- A report reviewing the child molestation investigation of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky found that the investigation was delayed by "crucial missteps and inexplicable delays in bringing a serial child molester to justice," Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane said Monday.

"This was a full and fair review," Kane said. "The facts show an inexcusable lack of urgency in charging and stopping a serial sexual predator."

The abuse scandal rocked the university and the state. Joe Paterno, the school's iconic head coach, was fired shortly after Sandusky was charged in 2011. Paterno died in January 2012, months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Sandusky, 70, was convicted in June 2012 of 45 criminal counts involving abuse over a 15-year period. Several young men testified that Sandusky would shower with them, grope them, and in some cases have oral and anal sex with them.

The state attorney general's office became involved in the investigation in early 2009, when Gov. Tom Corbett was attorney general. Kane, while running for the office in 2012, accused Corbett of slowing down the investigation. Corbett, a Republican, who is running for re-election this year, vehemently denied the claim. He blamed the delays on the immense scope of the investigation and the hesitancy among some witnesses to talk to prosecutors.

A highly anticipated review of the child sex abuse case against Jerry Sandusky finds there were 'inexplicable delays' in prosecuting the former Penn State coach. Vanessa Johnston reports.

Kane, a Democrat, ordered the review after taking office, bringing in law professor and former federal prosecutor Geoff Moulton to conduct it.

Sandusky admitted showering with the boys but denied wrongdoing. He has been pursuing appeals while serving a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence.

Three former Penn State officials, including ousted former president Graham Spanier, also face criminal charges related to an alleged coverup that prosecutors say temporarily shielded Sandusky from law enforcement scrutiny.

Penn State agreed to pay $60 million to dozens of sexual abuse victims. The NCAA also handed down stiff sanctions against the university, including a $60 million fine, temporary reduction in football scholarships and a bowl ban.